Exodus 24:1 says,  And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.  God told Moses to bring Aaron, Nadad, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel up to the LORD, and worship afar off.  We know who Aaron was, and the other two named were his sons, but the seventy elders we really don't know much about.  When we worship God today, we should do so reverently and we must realize that there are people all over the  world that we know little about who are worshipping Him as well.  Verse two states, And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.  Moses alone was to come near God, with Aaron and the rest of the group a little farther back and the rest of the people of Israel even farther back.  Ultimately, we must all come to God alone to receive His gift of salvation.  Verse three declares, And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.  Moses came to the people and told them all the words and judgments of God, and the people declared that they would follow God's laws.  This was a covenant between the people and God.  When we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord today, we enter into a covenant relationship with Him.  Just like the people of Israel, we must accept God's word as our guiding principle in life.  Verse four states, And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.  Moses wrote all the words of God down.  This was quite a responsibility, but Moses completed the task that God had called him to do.  Early the next morning, Moses built an altar and put up twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.  Everyone was to be included in the worship service.  Verse five adds, And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.  Moses sent young men to offer offerings to God.  They offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to God.  I believe that we should always include the young people in our worship time.  Verse six continues, And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.  Matthew Henry says that Moses sprinkled half the blood of the sacrifice on the people or the pillars that represented them and half on the altar.  This was a sign that the people and the altar were consecrated to God.  When we stand before God today, we must stand under the blood of Christ if we are to be consecrated to God.  Verse seven declares, And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.  Moses read the book of the covenant to the people and they all said that they would obey the word of God.  We today must agree to follow the word of God if we are to be successful in our service to Him.  Verse eight adds, And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.  Moses sprinkled the blood on the people and said it was the blood of the covenant which the people had made with God that day.  As stated, we today come to God through the blood of Christ and enter into a covenant relationship with Him.  Verse nine states, Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:  Then verse ten adds, And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.  Moses, Aaron, Nadad, Abihu and the elders went back up the mountain and saw God in His glory.  Likewise, we will one day go up to heaven to see God in all His glory if we are follwers of Christ.

Exodus 23:20 says, Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.  God was going to send an Angel before the people of Israel to guide them.  Some see this Angel as Jesus before His incarnation, but whether it was or not, it was a special agent of God who was to lead them.  We today may not have an angel, but we doe have the Holy Spirit to guide us, and He is with us to guide us no matter where we go.  Verse twenty-one states, Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.  The people of Israel were to follow and not provoke the Angel, who would not pardon their transgressions if they did, because he represented God.  This would seem to further indicate that the Angel was Christ, since we cannot be forgiven if we reject and provoke Him by our failure to accept and follow Him.  Verse twenty-two declares, But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.  Here is one of those but ifs of the bible.  The people of Israel were required to follow the Angel, and if they did, then God would be an enemy to their enemies, but if they didn't, He would not be.  The same is true for us today.  If we follow Christ faithfully, God will be an enemy to our enemies, but if we stray, this will not be true.   Verse twenty-three adds, For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.  God told the people of Israel that His Angel would go before them and cut off all their enemies.  Christ cut off the power of all our enemies when He died for us on the cross, and the Holy Spirit is with us today to keep us spiritually safe as we travel through this world.  Verse twenty-four states, Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.  They were commanded to not bow down to any other gods, but to destroy them instead.  Anything that we value more than God's will today becomes an idol that we are bowing down to, and we must utterly deatroy it to be successful in following Christ.  Verse twenty-five declares,  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.  God made a promise to the people of Israel, and it was not to make them materially rich.  If they served the LORD, He would bless their bread and water and take sickness away from their midst.  Today, we need to realize that God has not promised to make us rich materially, but to provide for our daily needs.  God also takes away our spiritual sickness if we put our faith in Christ.  Verse twenty-six states, There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.  God said that their cattle would not be barren in their land for the number of days until His promise was fulfilled.  Matthew Henry said that their cattle were a sign of prosperity, but I don't believe this was a promise of great wealth.  Verse twenty-seven proclaims, I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.  God said He would destroy all the enemies of the people of Israel, just as He will destroy all our spiritual enemies today if we follow His will.  I do not believe that there will never be a time when we are not defeated physically, but we will never be defeated spiritually if we follow God's guidance through the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse twenty-eight states, And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.  God did not say that He would send a legion of angels to defeat the enemies of Israel, but that He would send hornets to drive them out.  We need to realize that God can and does work through ordinary things to keep us safe today.  Verse twenty-nine declares, I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.  The enemies of Israel were not to be driven out immediately.  Our enemies today may not be driven out immediately, but if we put our faith in Christ, we know that the victory is already assured.  Verse thirty adds, By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.  God said He would drive Israel's enemies out little by little.  When we walk with Christ, not all of our enemies are driven out at once, but little by little we face fewer spiritual enemies.  Verse thirty-one continues, And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.  God told the people of the boundaries of the land that He would give them, and said that they would drive  their enemies out of the land because God had delivered them to the hands of the Israelites.   Even though God delivers us from the power of sin, it is still up to us to do our part in overcoming it.  Verse thirty-two states, Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.  Like the people of Israel, as followers of Christ we can make no compromises with the world and its gods.  Verse thirty-three proclaims. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.  Just like the people of Israel, if we allow the beliefs of the world to exist in our lives, we will be led to compromise our faith.  There are many snares to following Christ today, but we should never allow them to entrap us.

Exodus 23:10 says, And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:  Then verse eleven adds, But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.  The owners of the land were to plant and harvest the land for six years, and then the seventh year the land and the crops were to be harvested by the poor and what they didn't use was to be left for the animals.  God has always been concerned for the poor, and He has always expected His people to help them out.  We today might say that the owner has the right to everything that he can produce every year and has no obligation to the poor, but this is not what God says.  Verse twelve says, Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.  God said that the seventh day was to be a day of rest for all people and their working animals.  We today choose the Lord's Day, Sunday, and yet for too many people it is not even a day of rest, much less a day of worship.  God said this was to be a day to be refreshed.  We still need that time to rest and worship God.  Verse thirteen declares, And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.  The people of Israel were told to be circumspect, which means wary and unwilling to take risks, in all things, and they were not to even mention other gods.  As followers of Christ, this still applies to us today.  If we follow astrological signs and horoscopes, for example, we are following another god, even if we say that there is no harm in it.  Verse fourteen proclaims, Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.  God is going to tell the people some particular days that they should worship Him, and how they should worship Him.  Though we should worship God daily, we do know that He expects us to set aside one day exclusively for worshipping Him.  I believe that God should also determine how we worship Him, and that it should not be determined simply by what makes us feel good or by what everyone else is doing.  Verse fifteen states,Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)  God said they were to keep the feast of unleavened bread by eating unleavened bread for one week each year, and that none should go hungry.  This was to be a reminder of when God delivered them from Egypt.  When we think of a feast, we usually think of delicious food and lots of it, but this was to be a feast of remembrance of what God had done for them.  Verse sixteen adds, And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.  They were also to observe the feast of the harvest and the feast of the ingathering.  This was to dedicate what they had to God.  We should always give thanks to God, and we celebrate Thanksgiving every year, but it has been swallowed up by Christmas, which itself has lost much of its meaning in the world today.  Thanksgiving has become a day of overeating and waiting for the day after sales to begin, and Christmas has become a day of commerce more than a day for the celebration of the birth of Christ   Verse seventeen declares, Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.  All males were also to appear before God three times a year.  Verse eighteen adds, Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.  Sacrifices were not to be offered with leavened bread, and nothing was to be left until morning.  When we give our self to the Lord, we should not attempt to keep anything anything back.  Verse nineteen concludes,The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.  The people of Israel were told to bring their first fruits to God, and I believe that we today must give to God first before we worry about what to do with the rest of what He has blessed us with.

Exodus 23:1 says, Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.  Bearing false witness was a sin in God's eyes, and it still is today.  We hear a lot today about someone being accused of lying about someone else, but as followers of Christ, we should make sure that we are not guilty of doing so.  In the day of social media, which is often very unsocial, it is easy to repeat lies, but I believe that we have a responsibility to make sure that what we are saying is the truth.  Verse two states, Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:  The Israelites were warned to not just follow the crowd in what they were saying.  Likewise, we today cannot just base what we say on what most of those around us believe, but we must seek the truth and only proclaim what is consistent with God's truth.  Just because everyone says a certain thing does not make it true.  Verse three adds, Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.  People were not to be judged differently just because they were poor.  The poor may not have been able to afford to defend themselves well in court, but they were to be given a fair trial.  There is too much difference today in how the rich and poor are treated in court, and often in the sentences that they receive if found guilt.  This is not what God expects from His people.  Verse four declares, If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.  The Israelites were not just expected to deal honestly with their friends, but with their enemies also.  Just because someone was their enemy didn't give them the right to keep something that belonged to the enemy if they found it.  God tells us that we are to love our enemies, and we cannot treat them unfairly if we do.  Verse five adds, If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.  Not only were the people of Israel to return something that they found that belonged to an enemy, if they saw someone who hated them struggling under a heavy burden, they were to help them as well.  How often do we delight to see those that hate us struggling or suffering and feel that they deserve it and not only don't help them but rejoice in their suffering?  This is not what God's word teaches us.  Verse six says, Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.  This is an expansion on treating the poor unfairly.  We are not to have one system of justice for the rich and another for the poor.  Verse seven states, Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.  Just like the people of Israel, we are not to join those around us in following a falsehood.  As a matter of fact, we are to keep far from it.  We are not to kill the righteous, but we are to allow God to be the judge of all.  Our task is not to judge, but to reach the lost with the gospel of Christ.  Verse eight declares, And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.  Judges and witnesses were not to accept gifts because that could lead them to pervert the truth, or the words of the righteous.  If we have a question about the truth of something today, we cannot just repeat it or do what benefits us most financially, but we must seek God's guidance as to what we should do or say.  Verse nine proclaims, Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.  The Israelites were not to oppress the stranger, because they knew what it was like to be a stranger from their experience in Egypt.  God freed them from that oppression, and if we are followers of Christ today, He has freed us from the oppression of sin.  We should remember this when we deal with the strangers, or lost people around us.

Exodus 22:25 says, If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.  The Israelites were not to charge interest on loans made to any poor person.  This would not play well in the world today, where poor people are still charged great amounts of interest on loans, especially credit card and pay day loans.  Verse twenty-six states, If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:  If a person gave their raiment for a pledge, it was to be returned by night fall.  Verse twenty-seven adds, For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.  This is the reason that the raiment was to be returned.  The borrower would be cold at night without it.  In other words, the welfare of the borrower was to be considered.  God said if the person cried out to Him because this didn't happen that He would hear, because He is a gracious God.  How can we serve a gracious God and not be expected to be a gracious people?  We say that we can never outgive God, but do we believe it?  Verse twenty-eight states, Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.  Since there is but one God, and this doesn't seem to be referring to Him.  Matthew Henry says it refers to the judges, but I am not sure why they were referred to as gods.  I do know what God meant when He said that we are not to revile the rulers.  That means we are not to speak badly about those in power, and not just those that we like.  I personally don't believe there is any benefit in continuing to speak badly about former rulers.  Verse twenty-nine declares, Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.  The people of Israel were told not to delay in giving to God what was God's. the first fruits of all that they had.  I believe that likewise we should not delay in bringing our tithes and offerings to God today.  We cannot make this contingent on circumstances, because if we do, then circumstances will never be right.  Verse thirty adds, Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.  New born oxen and sheep were to be given a week with their mother, then they were to be given to God.  Verse thirty-one concludes, And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.  The people of Israel were to be a holy nation to God, not because of their superiority to others, but because of their relationship to God.  They were not to eat animals killed by beasts in the field.  This was not a probation against eating meat, but about eating something that was not pure.  Matthew Henry says it was a call to be conscientious in our diet.

Exodus 22:14 says, And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.  If a person borrowed something from his  neighbor and it was hurt or died, the one who borrowed it was to compensate the neighbor with a replacement or with replacement value.  We are responsible for the things we borrow from others, and should never attempt to escape responsibility for returning whatever it is that we borrow in good condition.  Verse fifteen adds, But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.  If the neighbor is there using whatever it is for hire, then the item was not to be replaced.  There is a difference between helping a neighbor for free and charging a neighbor for our help.  This can really apply in families.  Sometimes, even if we borrow something from them and it is broken, we don't feel we should have to replace it.  Sometimes, they are helping us for free, and the same thing applies, but if they are charging us, then the responsibility is theirs.  Verse sixteen states, And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.  A man could not entice a unbetrothed woman and have a sexual relationship with her without marrying her.  This was done for the protection of the woman more than anything.  It would have to be known that this happened. but if no one else knew, the man, woman and God would know.  Verse seventeen adds, If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.  If her father refused to allow her to marry the man, then he was to pay a dowry according to the dowry of virgins.  The woman had very little to say in this whatever happened, other than consenting to be with the man to start with.  In our world today in America, this is hard to understand, especially the fact that the woman had no say in what happened to her.  Verse eighteen declares, Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.  Witches existed even then, but they were not to be allowed to live.  I believe this was because they could lead people away from God.  Though I don't believe that we are commanded by God to kill witches today, we certainly should not accept them and what they teach as being perfectly alright.  Verse nineteen  says, Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.  Bestiality also brought a death sentence.  Verse twenty declares, He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.  As bad as some of these other things were, sacrificing to any other god except the one true God, this proclaims that the person was to be utterly destroyed.  This is why we must be careful that we don't begin to sacrifice to anything other than God.  Anything that becomes more important to us than God becomes what we sacrifice to.  Verse twenty-one states, Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.  We today should not vex or oppress strangers, because we are still strangers in this world.  Heaven is our home and we are just passing through wherever we are today on our way to that home.  Verse twenty-two declares, Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.  Since we are God's people, this applies to us just as it did to the Israelites.  We are to care for the widow's and the fatherless children.  Verse twenty-three adds, If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;  God said that if the widow or fatherless child were afflicted at all and cried out to Him that He would hear them.  God has not changed since this command was given, so He still hears them today.  Verse twenty-four concludes, And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.  God takes the mistreatment of widows and fatherless children very serious, and so should we.  I don't believe that God is going to strike someone dead if they do this, but I do believe that there will be an accountability for such actions.  If we are truly following God's will, then we will not be guilty of doing this.

Exodus 22:1 says, If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.  Stealing and killing or selling an ox or a sheep brought a severe penalty.  Oxen were to be repaid at five for one and sheep at four for one.  If we had the same penalties today, we might cut down on theft.  Verse two states, If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. There was a defend your home law even then.  If a thief was accidently killed while breaking in, the one who killed him was not to be held accountable for the thief's death.  Verse three says, If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.  Matthew Henry says this refers to the person in verse one who had stolen the ox or sheep.  If they were able to make restitution the next day, they were to do so, and if they couldn't they were to be sold to pay the debt.  This was still probably a better system than prison, since restitution was made and the person was accountable for it.  Verse four adds, If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.  If the stolen animals were still alive, then the restitution was the be two for one for either animal.  Verse five declares, If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.  There was a penalty for a person  allowing his animals to graze in his neighbors field or vineyard.  If he did so, he was to pay with the best of his crop from his own field or vineyard.  This would imply that the person doing this had a way to feed his animals from his own possessions.  We cannot attempt to use what others own simply to save what we own.  Verse six states, If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.  There was a penalty for starting a fire that got out of control.  This wasn't just about arson, but about any fire that was started that consumed another's property.  We see a lot about fires causing devastation in the world today, but there is usually little restitution even if it was caused by arson and the arsonist is caught.  Verse seven proclaims, If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.  If a neighbor was keeping something of value for another neighbor, and it was stolen and the thief caught, then the thief would be required to pay double what was stolen.  Verse eight adds, If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods.  If the thief were not found in this case, the master, or owner, of the house would be brought before the judges to determine if he had stolen the goods himself.  The theft could not just be written off to some unknown thief.  Just as the master of the house then, we need to be held accountable for protecting the property of others that they may have entrusted us with.  Verse nine declares, For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.  If there was a dispute over the ownership of any property, it was to be brought before the judges.  Whichever person was found to be at fault was to make restitution at double the value of the disputed property.  This should have cut down on false claims and lawsuits.  Verse ten states, If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:  Then verse eleven adds, Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.  If an animal was stolen and could not be found, then there was to be an oath to God that the one in possession had not just taken the animal for his own use.  These were God's people, and we have to assume that taking such an oath would have meant that they were telling the truth.  After the oath, the one in possession of the property would be held unaccountable.  Just like then, especially as God's people, we must respect the rights of our neighbors.  Verse twelve continues, And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.  Then verse thirteen concludes, If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.  If the person was held to have stolen the animal, he would be responsible, but if the animal had been killed and torn to pieces by another animal or person, then the man would not be responsible.